Not Just a Scar
by AlexaNDYE
Summary: After Tony's full recovery from the surgery, neither he, nor Pepper, were used to the results.


Pepper awoke with a small groan. Her eyes fluttered open as they adjusted to the morning sunlight that pierced through the windows. She wanted to tell JARVIS to tint the windows, but half of her knew if she did that, then she'd never leave the bed. _Screw it_, she thought, rubbing her eyes.

"JARVIS—" Without saying another word, the windows tinted. Her lips formed a small smile as her eyes easily adjusted to the darkened room, but her senses were on full alert. With the darkness creeping into their room, the familiar blue glow that she was so used to was missing.

She slowly and hesitantly looked to the left of her. Her body was scared that something she was so accustomed to was missing, and what made matters worse was that the glow meant life or death. If there was no glow, and he was there, her mind would send her into a panic.

She let out a small sigh of relief when she saw him laying on his back, snoring peacefully and drooling slightly, but she wasn't entirely relieved. The blue glow wasn't there. Her hand stretched out, curious about the familiar glow's whereabouts, and its absence worried her, because for the longest time, it gave her reassurance.

She slowly peeled away the first layer of sheets from his chest, carefully avoiding the chance of waking him. His chest was still blank. Her fingers slipped around the second layer and peeled it away. Still blank. She held her breath as her fingers slipped around the last layer.

_Please…_, she pleaded. _Please, don't…_

She removed the last layer, revealing his bare chest. The blue glow was gone, as was the casing of his arc reactor, and scaring was in place of it. Tony, for the longest time after his recovery, covered it up with a t-shirt. He usually wore a tank top to bed, or no shirt at all, but after he recovered from surgery, he made it clear that he thought the scars were ugly and disconcerting.

_She caught him looking at his scars in his mirror. His dress shirt was unbuttoned and opened. He wasn't smiling, and his eyes were dark and hooded. It was obvious he didn't like how his chest looked, and she wondered if he was ashamed of them and wished the arc reactor was still there. Of course she felt bad, because he normally didn't hide those kinds of things from her, so why was he hiding them now? She wondered why he covered it up when it was just them in the penthouse. Her and him. There was no one else._

"_Hey," Pepper said softly, hoping not to startle him. She didn't, but he immediately started to button up his dress shirt. He glanced at her reflection through the mirror and gazed down at his shirt, concentrating on slipping the buttons through their holes._

"_Hey." He replied softly. Before he knew it, her fingers were covering his, and he froze, but he didn't look at her._

"_Tony, why are you doing this?" She asked quietly, not trying to sound like she was prying._

_He gazed at her. "What do you mean? We have a Gala to go to. I'm getting dressed, like you asked me to." He looked at her, up and down, and smirked briefly. She was in his boxers and a thin t-shirt. "Are you planning to wear that to the event? People are going to ask why you're wearing boxers, Honey."_

_Pepper's smile faded a second after it appeared. "Why are you hiding it?" He could tell she was concerned and worried._

_Of course she would notice. She's Pepper, and your girlfriend. She knows you better than anyone else. "Hiding what?" He asked dumbly; his smile disappeared as well. He continued to button his shirt when her hand slipped from his._

"_You know you don't have to hide it from me." She told him, trying to be as gentle as possible._

_He sighed loudly; he was frustrated with himself. "It's…" He paused and pressed his lips together. "It's not something I want you to see."_

"_Why?" She asked, walking up to him and stopping him from buttoning his dress shirt. She stood in front of him, in front of the mirror, and watched his arms drop to his sides._

_He sighed again and looked away, avoiding her gaze. He snapped, but only briefly, "Because—" He caught her gaze and stopped. His jaw was clenched and his nostrils flared; he hated talking about it. He knew after the surgery that his chest would no longer be the same; there would be scars and he knew that, but when he saw the results in the mirror, he saw its ugliness. He focused on the new flesh that tried to cover up the gaping hole in his chest that changed his life. It was easily noticeable and broad in size. _

"_Tony," Pepper muttered, slowly and gently unbuttoning his dress shirt, starting from the top. She locked onto his gaze, but he looked away, almost as if he was ashamed. He felt her unbutton the rest and open up his dress shirt, revealing most of the scars. "This…" He can feel her staring at the ridges of his scars. "…It's just me. I'm the only one here."_

_His eyes slowly drifted to gaze at her and their eyes locked. "I know." She saw the sadness in his eyes._

"_I'm not going to judge you, or think of you any differently." She told him._

"_I know… I… I just don't like how it looks."_

_A small gasp escaped his lips when he felt her fingers gently, and slowly, slide against the tender flesh. "Well, I do." She paused to study him, tilted her head to the side, and smiled lovingly. "You know why? Because it reminds me of everything that's happened: Afghanistan," He frowned and looked away. "Iron Man, Obediah, Hammer, New York," He smiled briefly, remembering what happened the night after the battle. "Killian..." She smiled widely and stroked his cheek with her thumb. "I am so proud of you, Tony… How far you've come... How much you've changed."_

_Tony looked up at her and flashed a small smile. He could feel her words warm his heart up; she never had to tell him she loved him, because she had other, more effective, ways of telling him, and he loved every one of them._

_Pepper sauntered out of the bathroom, mumbling about the time and how they were going to be late. Tony looked back at the mirror and his eyes drifted down to his open dress shirt. He stared at the scars, and for the first time, he smiled._

Pepper smiled and gently ran her fingers along the ridged flesh, thinking about the words she said to him the night before, and heard a soft chuckle.

"That tickles." Tony mumbles sleepily, smiling as he opened an eye.

She returns the grin. "Sorry."

"You okay?"

"I'm just not used to it yet." She admitted, laying down next to him and curling against his side. She slipped her leg between hips and rest her head on his chest.

"Mm," he hummed. He understood how she felt, because he wasn't used to it either. Every single time he woke up, he'd expect the blue tinted glow in the corner of his eyes, and when it never came, he'd run a quick hand to check for the circular casing. "Neither am I. And you didn't answer my question."

"Huh?"

"Are you okay?" He repeated, referring to the Extremis.

"Oh." She realized what he meant. "I haven't noticed anything lately."

Between his surgery and his tinkering with the Extremis, they were both on edge. It was always one thing after another, and it was getting exhausting.

"We should take a vacation." Tony suggested, glancing at her.

"Where?" She asked, tracing circles near his chest. He was almost surprised when she didn't oppose his suggestion.

"Venice?"

"You always suggest Venice." She smiled.

"There's nothing wrong with Venice."

She laughed. "No, but aren't there other places?"

"We could just hide it out in here and tell everyone we're going on a vocation." He smiled widely, moving to lay down on his side, so he could drape his arm over her middle. "Actually, I take that back." He played with the hem of her shirt, loving how his fingers grazed her soft skin every now and then. "I want you as far away from work as possible."

Pepper smirked. "Venice it is, then."


End file.
